Congressman says facts contradict governor’s ‘fear-mongering’

U.S. Rep Silvestre Reyes (D-TX-16) suggested Wednesday that Gov. Rick Perry stick to the truth instead of spreading tales about border violence. New FBI crime statistics released this week show Texas border communties to be safer than Austin – where Perry lives.

Congressman Sylvestre Reyes

“Instead of pandering to TV cameras to tarnish the image of Texas’s border region, Governor Perry should focus on controlling crime in the rest of Texas,” Reyes said Wednesday. “While Governor Perry falsely claims that ‘drug cartels have operational control of a substantial amount’ of the border to incite fear, new data released by the FBI this week confirm that border cities remain among the safest places to live in the United States.

“ In fact, Austin, Texas, where Governor Perry resides in his $10,000-a-month rental mansion at taxpayer expense, reported a 72 percent increase in homicides in 2010,” the El Paso congressman and former Border Patrol chief said. ”The city of Austin had more homicides last year than El Paso, Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville combined.

“All Texans should resoundly reject the Governor’s fear-mongering rhetoric that harms our state’s image and our ability to attract tourism and commerce to the border region. The Governor should help create jobs in the region, not scare them away as part of his self-interested quest to bolster his national image,” Reyes said.